The Crown of Excellence : Chapter 5 : § 3.3-5

Chapter 5 : The Fourth Star or Splendour of the Crown of Excellence of the Mother of God

Continuing our translation of the 1845 reprint of Fr François Poiré's Triple Crown of the Mother of God (1643 French edition).

Notre Dame des Grâces, Cotignac.(Poggi, 2020)

§ 3. The dispositions of the Holy Virgin that made her a worthy Spouse for the Holy Ghost

The second disposition : virginity

 3   This is a gift worthy of Heaven, a diamond of purity set in the gold of humility. It was also altogether fitting, according to St Bernard[1], that if God were to be attracted to earth by any virtue, then He most certainly would be so drawn by the sweet fragrance rising up from these two rare qualities.

It was altogether becoming, says this Saint, that she who had raised aloft the standard of virginity, a virtue new to the world, should be honoured by a new embassy;[2] and who besides an Angel from Heaven could be chosen for the mission to the Angel on earth?

This Angel on earth is none other than Mary. According to St Basil[3], or rather according to the actual truth, she was beyond compare in this angelic virtue.

There is no point in searching, says his great follower St Anselm[4], either on earth or in Heaven for a purity comparable to Mary’s. That she should surpass in purity all other creatures is entirely reasonable, but to a degree you will not be able to understand. This is because : the Eternal Father condescends to make her Mother of His Son, the Son accepts her as such and the Holy Ghost passionately desires to have her for His Spouse – all for the fulfilment of the remarkable mystery of the Incarnation.

[1] Serm. in Annuntiat.

[2] A message sent or delivered by an ambassador. archaic and rare after 17th cent. Complete OED.

[3] Homil. de humana Christi generatione.

[4] Lib. de Conceptu Virginali, c. 18.

The third disposition : her steadfast purpose

 4   The third virtue which attracted the Holy Ghost’s love was her steadfast gaze continually fixed on Him, together with the beating of her heart which panted ceaselessly after Him. How could the Holy Ghost fail to love such a one, since a soul like hers is worth more than the whole world? 

You would have seen her always seeking out God, making her way to God, sighing after God. Did she keep watch? – it was for God. Did she do her work? – always in the presence of God. Did she walk?– it was in search of God. Did she take her rest? – it was in God. 

Whether praying, reading, taking care of her neighbour or seeing to her duties, she was more deeply absorbed in God than the highest Spirits in Paradise. In short, she lead her life just as she would have done if there had been no-one else in the world other than God and her. That sums it up and there is no need to look further, as she says: I to my beloved, and my beloved (in a reciprocal way) always to me.[1] These words have their equivalent in: My beloved to me, and I to him[2]. St Ambrose notes that the idea in these words is found three times in the Canticle of Canticles,[3]  signifying that Mary had always been in search of God, from the beginning of her life, throughout her life and at its end; similarly, God had been present in her thoughts, in her words and in her works.

 5   As St Bernard wrote[4], we have here in a few words just a glimpse of the virtues which adorned the Royal Virgin’s body and soul like sumptuous finery, set off by Her own peerless and dazzling beauty. This beautiful harmony made her so highly commendable to the citizens of Heaven that she captivated the heart and affections of the King of Angels, earning for herself an embassy[5] the like of which had never been seen before and will never be seen again.

[1] Cant. vi. 2.

[2] Cant. ii. 16.

[3] Cant. ii., vi., &  see also vii. 10. I to my beloved, and his turning is towards me.

[4] Homil. 1 in Missus.

[5] A message sent or delivered by an ambassador. archaic and rare after 17th cent. Complete OED.

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The Vladimirskaya Icon. >12th century.

SUB tuum præsidium confugimus, Sancta Dei Genitrix. Nostras deprecationes ne despicias in necessitatibus, sed a periculis cunctis libera nos semper, Virgo gloriosa et benedicta. Amen.

 

 

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam. 

© Peter Bloor 2024